Just completed the assembly and setup of my new 3DR X4. I am using all 3DR parts including:
- Pix Hawk
- GPS/Compass
- 915 Mhz Tele,
- 3DR Power Module
- 3DR 850 Kv 28/30 Motors
- 3DR Simon. K ESC
- APC 10 X 4.7 Props
- FrSky Tx &Rx
- GCS
- Nexus 7 running DroidPlanner 2.0
I have completed my first flight using the default X4 Param. It was stable but I wanted it to have a more locked in feeling so I performed the Auto-Tune and all I can say is "WOW", really nice. I have made a mount for a digital camera to be mounted to the bottom for Ortho-mapping small areas. I use a Canon Elf 115 with CHDK for USB remote triggering by the PixHawk. Works great....
The DIY frame kit is excellent. It even included locktite. Great quality and it goes together nicely.
Thanks 3DR for such a great product....
Joe Millette
Comments
Apparently inverted is around 5-7% more efficient. Inverti-tech™ is teh future!!!!!!
Kind of reminds me of my mini inverted quad.. very pro! and does about 15m/s :)
Thank you all for your comments.
@John: I will review the information you provided.
I have been involved in Aviation and UAS Operations combined for over 23 yrs and I am also a current student in Aerospace Engineering. I currently work as a Safety Analyst at the original UAS Flight test center accepted by the FAA.
After flying the X4 i did not notice any adverse effect of having the motors on top or on the bottom. It flys very stable in the 15 MPH winds i performed my maiden in.So I will leave it this way. Thanks for all the thoughts and comments. I really like this group...
Just a side note, here is a professional UAS with a similar set up that gets 45-60 min flight times: http://www.aeryon.com/products/avs/aeryon-skyranger.html
Joseph, you may want to draw your own conclusions after reading the discussion in a DIYD blog post titled: Some MultiCopter Design Thoughts. Here is another related DIYD discussion. CoG, CoM, and CoT appear to be useful concepts, keeping in mind what you want to accomplish. Other related links to DIYD blog posts (generally not the Discussions on DIYD) about testing UAVs/UASs can be found here.
Hanging weight should not make a difference.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendulum_rocket_fallacy
I've always wondered that - I used to believe that you should "hang" the weight from the motors for stability too. But I just built a Y6 which is very top heavy. And it flies totally fine, even up to it's max speed of 90kph. So it doesn't appear to be hard and fast rule.
Inverted motors. It appears the copter will be more agile and less stable. You have most of the mass above the rotor plane. Wind may affect the stability. Hanging mass lower should surely help stabilize.
It has default PIDs in MP but I still ran the auto tunebecuase I was unsure of the changes due to the inverted motors.
Regarding the tablet mount, I bought to parts and put it together. It is a clamp mount for a car headrest and a carbon fiber fpv radio mount.
Thanks
Nice build. I like your tablet holder. Did you 3d printed it or bought it?
Just to make sure, replace all of the NAN values you might have got during your compassmot procedures by zeros (check in full parameters list in mission planner)
Nice! Pushing into clean air makes so much more sense. The next time I tear down my Tarot frame I plan to invert the motors.
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